


Ring around the Merry-Go-Round

by Blackedoutgoth



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Circus, Gen, Horror, Lay - Freeform, Mentioned Kim Jongin | Kai, Mentioned Kim Junmyeon | Suho, OT9 - Freeform, Yixing, Yixing's Birthday Week 2020, a vapid attempt anyway, clowns kinda?, mcd?, no romance here, not really - Freeform, other members are there too, platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:21:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26995834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blackedoutgoth/pseuds/Blackedoutgoth
Summary: They should have stayed away.
Relationships: Zhang Yi Xing | Lay/Everyone
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10
Collections: Challenge #8 — Tales of the Past





	Ring around the Merry-Go-Round

_ Whatever you do, do not go to the abandoned circus, the members of the circus are still there and they will not leave you. _

Stupid. Stupid.

He cant believe how stupid he'd been.

It was all a silly game, such a dumb thing to do. Go to the circus and spend the entire night there.

All his friends agreed to it and now….

The locals warned them, wherever the boys went, the locals told them to not go to the deserted circus but they had decided to call it what it was, a myth, and go there anyway.

He hadn’t seen his friends in hours now, they’d all split up after they entered the circus, deciding to play a game of hide and seek looking at the vast amount of space, while the sun was setting. 

The circus didn’t look half as petrifying when they entered as it did now, the overgrown plants and the shadows made it look sinister and the rustling wind sent shivers down his spine. 

He’s sure it’s past midnight now, but his phone won’t work, having run out of battery some time ago.

He’d been walking around aimlessly, having understood that no one was playing the game anymore, he tried calling out for his friends, but no one would answer. He hated this prank they were playing on him.

Or at least he hoped it was a prank. 

He broke out into a slow jog, trying to find his bastard friends, when he heard low whistling that almost sounded like that wind rushing past him over his short breath and his sneakers hitting rhythmically against the dusty ground.

“Yixing?”

Familiar. Safety. Finally. 

He had never whipped his head around so fast, desperate to find the person who just called his name, but all he saw was the broken carousel.

“Hyung? Hyung? Can you hear me? Are you near? Hyung!”

He heard his name being called out again in that sweet voice, turning this way and that trying to find Junmyeon so he could calm his racing heart but he was nowhere to be found yet he heard Junmyeon calling out for him.

He walks toward the carousel, dead leaves rustling, harsh autumn chill settling over his bones.

A shoe.

Not just anyone’s shoe, it was Junmyeon’s shoe, Yixing stopped, confused, his hyung would never take off his shoes like that, he looked ahead, neck preening, trying to catch a glimpse of his hyung but instead saw the other shoe sprawled several feet away, turned over with a single sock a small distance away from it.

“Yixing.” the sweet voice calls out to him again, so warm and so inviting. 

It sounds wrong and he knows he shouldn’t, but he takes a step towards his hyung anyway, and then another.

He hears his name being called out again, and again, and again.

  
Until it sounds like a chant. 

  
Until there’s too many voices. 

  
Until the voices don’t sound like his hyung at all.

.

.

.

And then suddenly, it all stops.

He hears giggles. Is that Junmyeon?

He hears it again. It most definitely isn’t Junmyeon and the giggles seem to be getting closer with every puffed breath he takes, so without thinking another moment, he turns on his heels, dropping the shoe and runs the opposite way, never once looking back.

He feels the tears welling up in his eyes, chin quivering and his body threatening to give out on him. All he wants to do is sit and sob but he tries ignoring the fear and pushes his body to run faster.

Tears blur his vision and slip down his cheeks in streams, and he aggressively wipes his eyes to get rid of them, there’s no time to cry now.

He’s scared, so very scared, he doesn’t think he’s ever experienced terror like this before.

-

He's been running around the estate for a while now, it could have been minutes or hours, he doesn’t really know. He’s searching for the exit, eager to get out of the cursed place when he hears a cry.

“.....hyung?” a meek voice calls out to him from towards his right, sounding scared.

He stops instantly, chest heaving.

“Jongin?” 

“Jongin! Is it you?”

“Hyung? I’m here!” Jongin cries out, soft sobs and hiccups coming from the direction of the funhouse.

Yixing curses, he really didn't want to go in there, but the younger sounded terrified and all Yixing wanted was to find the boy.

He had to get out of here, take Jongin and get out of here. He couldn’t afford to stay here one more minute when all he felt was an impending sense of doom hanging over him like a blade.

He enters the dilapidated building, broken shards of glass crunching under his shoes, the walls covered in dust and soot, cobwebs taking over every available corner, creepers lining them, slowly taking over the inside. It’s dark and bleak, the only light streaming in through the entrance.

It’s all too silent. Jongin doesn’t respond to him anymore. It all feels wrong.

He strains his ears to catch anything at all, calling out Jongin’s name in whispers almost as if he didn’t want to disturb whatever might be here.

And then he feels it.

He gasps and suddenly the air around him is freezing, the hair on the back of his neck sticking straight out. He feels his skin becoming uncomfortably damp and fear washes upon him like a crashing wave.

Eyes wide. Lungs constricting. A chuckle in his ear.

"Found you."

_ BREAKING NEWS: Locals report 9 missing boys who came on a short vacation. They were last seen heading towards the abandoned circus which has been shut down for over 60 years now due to a freak accident that occurred resulting in the death of all members of the circus. If you, or anyone else, have seen these boys or know about their whereabouts, please contact 112. _

**Author's Note:**

> Welp. With that, you’ve reached the end of this story.  
> I’d like to start off by apologizing for this atrocity you’ve just read, cause I don't know how to write horror, I also am not a seasoned consumer of horror material of any sort, so this very well might be a stain in the name of this genre.  
> I also find this painfully ironic that I wrote about a circus, when in reality I really despise them and cannot ever imagine myself going to a working one, much less an abandoned one. That place is what nightmares are made of.  
> Having said that, I'd like to thank you for reading this miserable attempt of writing horror.  
> I had fun writing this and this genre is definitely something I'd like to revisit again in the future and hopefully (fingers crossed) do a better job next time around.  
> Lastly, I'd like to thank the mods for once again organizing and running such a wonderful fest!!!  
> Again, thank you for reading the story and this lengthy note!  
> Have a great day!


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